


Tumble and Fall

by PrussianInAmerica



Category: OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, Angst, Bad Science, M/M, occassional fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-11-27 23:35:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20956778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrussianInAmerica/pseuds/PrussianInAmerica
Summary: After Professor Venomous has a breakthrough in getting his powers back, Boxman is left to clean up the aftermath.





	1. Imperfect Fit

**Author's Note:**

> Age regression isn't entirely the right tag, but there's no tag for PV's dumbass science experiments.

“Alright kids, we’ve got a situation on our hands. I don’t… I don’t know if it’s permanent.” Boxman dropped his eyes to his linked hands. He sighed and braced himself for the reactions this was bound to bring. “There was an… accident in the lab this morning. PV wasn’t hurt, but he’s different.”

“What do you mean _different_? What happened to boss?”

“He… did it. He got what he wanted.”

Fink lit up. “Boss got his powers back!”

“Yes, Fink, but I don’t think–”

Down the hall a familiar voice piped up. “Is there anything that’s not made for twigs in here?”

The minion didn’t wait for Boxman to explain further, scampering out the door to find her boss.

* * *

“Boss?” Fink peered around the doorway into Boxman and Venomous’ shared room. The closet was open, but she couldn’t really see the person rooting through it.

“This guy’s tiny! Does he ever eat?” The man stepped back from the closet with one of Professor Venomous’ shirts held up to his chest, staring down at it. He tugged at the edges, testing how stretchy the fabric was. “Maybe…”

It _was_ her boss, but he didn’t look like him and he didn’t sound like him and he wasn’t acting like himself.

“Boss, what happened?”

He gave a little shout (even that didn’t sound right), clutching the shirt to his bare chest before he noticed Fink in the doorway. “Didn’t anyone ever teach ya to knock, kid?”

“The door was open.”

“Still… Hey, you think this would fit me?”

Laserblast was exactly like all the pictures she’d ever seen on the internet of him. You really couldn’t tell he and Venomous were the same unless you were looking for it. Fink kind of wished she didn’t know to look for it.

“I don’t think so, boss.”

“Damn.” He tossed it back in the closet and began searching again. “Why’re you calling me ‘boss’? I’m not anyone’s boss.”

“You’re _my_ boss.”

“No, I’m not. I’m not even the boss of the junior recruits.”

She watched him search for another minute or two, worrying more every passing second. “Boxbutt might have a shirt that’ll fit.” When he leaned out of the closet again she pointed at the door on the other side of the room – another closet which housed all of Boxman’s clothes at a much more appropriate height.

“Thanks!”

Properly – or as proper as possible – dressed, he took a closer look at Fink.

“Who are you? Boxman’s kid?”

“What? Ew, no!” Fink spit as if the thought itself left a bad taste. “I’m your minion, boss!”

“Stop calling me that! I don’t know who your boss is, but I don’t have any minions! I don’t even know who you are! And why would I have a minion? Why would I have a minion who’s clearly a child?”

“Because you’re–” A talon-ended hand covered her mouth and cut her off.

“Alright, that’s enough Fink. Go back to my office, we’ll talk in a minute.” Boxman started pulling her out of the room, speaking calmly but not removing his hand even when she shook her head as fast as she could to try and dislodge it. “Sorry, P– Laserblast, she’s just a little confused.”

“So am I! What’s going on here, Boxman? I wake up in a strange place with strange people calling me strange things, no memory–”

Fink stared at the door that had been shut in her face. Her boss didn’t know who she was. Her boss wasn’t even her boss anymore. What would she do now? Where would she go?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just gonna come right out and say I have no idea how often this will be updated. BUT the good news is I'm more or less constantly posting snippets of it on my [writing blog](https://www.ianwritesfics.tumblr.com) under the tag [voxvoid](https://www.ianwritesfics.tumblr.com/tagged/voxvoid). There's spoilers, though. So if you want to avoid those you may be better off subscribing. I can't write anything in order, so there's stuff from all over the damn place.


	2. Previously On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laserblast gets the sanitized version of "Previously on: Your life"

“And practically naked! What kind of sick things are you doing now?”

It was _so hard_ to look at the man he loved like this. Like the man himself said, he had no memory. PV had found a total reset. Six to eleven years younger, powers restored, memory wiped. He got what he wanted, but he’d lost everything. He didn’t even know what he’d lost.

“Nothing like whatever you’re thinking. You just kind of… Appeared. You’ve been gone a long time.”

“Everyone thinks I’m dead?” Laserblast wasn’t taking to the news as well as Boxman hoped he might. He seemed… stuck.

“Yes. From what I’ve heard, it’s really not surprising they all thought you died.”

“I don’t even remember that mission, how do I know you’re not lying?”

Boxman pulled a laptop from under his side of the bed and brought up a search engine. “See for yourself.” He watched as Laserblast searched every possible permutation or phrase he could to somehow convince himself the results were fake. “Well?”

“Everyone thinks I’m dead!” Boxman nodded. “Why am I here now? _How_ am I here?”

“I honestly don’t know. My partner probably has something to do with it, but he’s…” he winced. “Gone.”

“Who’s your partner? Where’s he gone and when is he getting back?” The hero was getting agitated and Boxman wasn’t sure what he could actually do if he tried to leave. If he trapped him or restrained him, he came out looking worse than he already did. If this was going to be fixed, he needed to be trusted.

“I _don’t know._” he sighed and pushed a hand through his hair. “I haven’t seen him since before you got here. He’s just gone. I don’t… think he’s coming back any time soon, though.”

“Who is it? And why do you think this has to do with him if you haven’t seen him?”

Alright, now _Boxman_ was getting agitated. PV was really going to get it when he got back. “It’s just the kind of crap he’d pull.”

“You haven’t told me who your partner is.” _Cob,_ it rankled to have a hero under his roof that he couldn’t – wouldn’t – do anything to. Even if it really was his partner.

“No one you know.” This line of questioning only led to disaster, Boxman needed an out. “Would you like to see some of your old teammates?”

“What?”

“Your team’s still around. Most of them went their separate ways, but… Silverspark and El-Bow are in the plaza.”

“_Sparks is here?_” Oof, that hurt.

“Across the street. I’ll talk to the kids real quick and then I’ll… show you. _Secretly._”

“What!”

“That’s the deal. You can see her, but if those plaza heroes find out you’re back I’m sure they’ll find a way to blame me for your disappearing act. Much as I appreciate that little act of villainy, I’m not taking credit.” Not very eloquent, but hopefully it would work.

* * *

Laserblast marveled at the screen showing him what was going on in the plaza. “She seems… happy with El-Bow. I’m glad. She always deserved someone… better than me. I’m not worth much.” He huffed a small laugh. “I can’t really do anything without help.”

“Well that’s just– I’m sure you can do plenty without your team.”

“They’re not my team anymore. And anyway, even without them I need to drain power to use it. If I couldn’t do that… I really would be useless.”

“Hey!” Laserblast looked away from watching Carol to Boxman, who… looked angry? “You’re not useless. You’re worth just as much as anyone else. Saying stuff like that doesn’t help anyone, so stop it.”

He stared at the villain. He still didn’t really know what had happened – since he obviously hadn’t actually died – but he wasn’t stupid. He could tell Boxman knew more than he was saying. But he’d been so helpful. Boxman answered every question he had as best as he could. He’d explained what happened before Laserblast disappeared, and after.

He wouldn’t explain why Fink had thought he was her boss. The man whose clothes would never fit him. Boxman wouldn’t say anything about him. Clammed right up and changed the subject when any of the… kids brought him up. He only said he probably wasn’t coming back. Fink looked crushed.

“Alright. Thank you, Boxman.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very tired, and also very sorry for just kind of dumping the first chapter and running. I had a hell of a time getting some of the transition into words for no apparent reason other than it was boring and I wanted to write stuff from later on instead. Again, sorry!
> 
> If you'd like to get updates on my procrastination in real time, I have a [twitter](https://twitter.com/ianwritesfic) now! I bitch about my writing and retweet voxman art!


	3. New Usual

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I was getting the next chapter of Unsafe Driving around, but I'm sick and my brain isn't here for smut I guess. Oh well, guess I'll just work on formatting and filling in spaces between the bits of VoxVoid I already have written!
> 
> I tried to make a fun New Adventures of Old Christine joke for the title but it just doesn't work.

He was getting used to Boxmore. If he wanted, getting out would be easy enough, but… it was nice to not have to be Laserblast for a while. Boxman let him do what he wanted, basically. Fink followed him around every waking moment. The bots avoided him. He tried to be friendly with them, but they all seemed terrified of him. Or of something happening because they talked to him.

He promised himself he would leave soon. Every night he’d lay in the guest room and make plans to leave in the morning. Then Fink would peek in, pretend to just be going to the bathroom, and leave. He’d swear he was only staying one more day before he went to sleep.

He’d been with Boxman for two weeks. It was getting ridiculous, but he couldn’t make himself leave. He’d gotten all the way to the front door once. The thought of dealing with all the press and his teammates and fans… stopped him. It was so nice to be himself. To not put on so much of a front all the time.

“Laser–”

“Don’t call me that. It’s… not really who I am, anymore.” He pressed his nails into his palm. He’d been letting them grow a little and the sting felt comforting. “Please.”

“Well, whaddaya want me to call you then?”

“… Trevor. Not like I have anything left to hide behind.”

Everything had been like that. He got the feeling there wasn’t much Boxman wouldn’t allow for him as long as he asked for it. He’d given him a credit card when he needed new clothes and told him to go nuts. Who wouldn’t be a little hesitant to leave when their every need was met where they were at?

“I think.” He took a deep breath before trying again. “I think I’d like to stay here. If that’s… okay.”

“What? I mean. Sure thing, Trevor. Got plenty of room here,” Boxman hesitated. “So long as you’re not planning on picking up hero work again…”

“No. No, I think those days are well and truly behind me, now. But I’m not going to become a villain, either, Boxman.”

“That’s fine! I’m not about to force you to be something you’re not. I’m a villain, not a monster.”

* * *

_“The space between who I was and who I am now was… the roughest time of my life. I don’t think I handled it very well, but… it brought me here, so who am I to complain, really?” Venomous smiled as he ran his fingers over Box’s chest, looking half lost in the memory of what he’d put himself through. “I used to tell myself I turned to villainy because of the money, that it was a stopgap on my way back. But I was never happier than when I was able to get my hands dirty with some grand new scheme. Even the little things make me happier than I ever used to be._

_“But… I think if I’d let myself just… be myself I’d have been happier sooner. Maybe I could have kept something from my old life. Stayed in touch, at least. I’ve never made good on the spot decisions. Faking my death, hiding… I don’t think it helped, short term. Long term, I have so much because of it, basically my entire life now. But as well as I understand myself now, I knew nothing during that time. I was still putting on a front, it was just… different. I wish I’d had someone who told me it was okay to be myself.”_

Boxman was trying _so_ hard. Somehow it was working. He may never get PV back – biochemistry and bioengineering really weren’t his forte – but he was going to let Trevor do what he needed to be himself.

It wasn’t the same – he wasn’t dealing with the loss of his powers, he wasn’t reeling from what he’d thought was a complete betrayal – but it was enough. It was better, because he had family now. Family that wasn’t about to let him make the same mistakes.

* * *

There were no pictures of Boxman’s partner in Boxmore.

He didn’t really leave Boxmore, given how things were. Hard to explain a random reappearance six to eleven years after everyone had decided you were probably dead. But he had to catch up on everything he’d missed, so he spent a lot of time on the computer. Fink had shown him to Boxman’s missing partner’s lab and set him up there.

He’d been catching up on world news and POINT news and news about his disappearance. It got boring after a while. So, he began researching Boxmore. It seemed like Boxman was generally just a nuisance to the surrounding area, and not even a big one at that. At least he wasn’t rooming with someone like _Kosma_.

But what he really wanted were pictures of Boxman’s missing partner. It wasn’t like he had a name to look up. No one said it. Raymond occasionally mentioned _stepfather_, but that was it. Even then the other bots would shoot him nasty looks until he shut up too. Trevor got the feeling their want to avoid upsetting their father was stronger than their own upset at the man’s disappearance.

“It’s useless.” He dropped his head down on the desk, talking directly into it. “I’m not gonna find him or anything, why am I even looking?”

“Have you read about Professor Venomous yet?”

Trevor managed to not completely fall out of his chair when he jerked up and whirled around to see Fink in the doorway, but it was a near thing. He did knock his mouse off the desk. It dangled uselessly over the edge by its cord.

“What?”

“You’ve been looking into Boxbutt and the other villains, have you heard about Professor Venomous?”

“Um, a little. He’s a bioengineer. He’s rich. He seems to stay out of the news, generally.”

“You should pay him a little more attention.” Fink scurried over to him and jumped up on his lap, taking over the computer. “He’s the best.” She did a lot of things he couldn’t follow and ended up on a page filled with info on the professor.

“Is he an actual professor?” Trevor began skimming the page.

“Uh huh. Night classes.”

He scrolled around, taking in random bits of information. “What’s he doing lately?” His eye caught on _Boxmore_ and he stopped to read the whole section. “_He’s_ Boxman’s partner?”

“Boxbutt isn’t good enough for Boss, but yeah, he bought Boxmore from the board and brought Boxman back in. I don’t know what he’s thinking lately.”

“Any pictures?” Fink protested but he found a link to a gallery at the bottom of the page and clicked it before she could pull the mouse away from him.

Venomous was about his height, maybe a little taller. He was every bit the twig his wardrobe promised. Long, dark hair, scaly purple skin, and sharp teeth from what he could see. He hadn’t been around in Trevor’s POINT days, but he looked… familiar.

Lots of the pictures also had Fink in them. She looked happy. Well– evil, but happy.

One had Boxman. He looked lovestruck. Venomous looked… softer than the other pictures. It was obviously a candid shot, neither party seemed even vaguely aware of the camera. Leaving a café in what looked like the Danger Zone, Venomous held the door open for Boxman.

“Well?”

“What?”

“You… you wanted to know about him. What do you think?”

He wanted to know why someone who had Boxman so obviously infatuated would leave him. He wanted to find Venomous, shake him down for answers, and force an apology from him.

“I think he’s a skinny little twerp.”


	4. Sleepless in Boxmore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise again! Don't expect this to be a normal thing, but I do have quite a bit prewritten and no self-restraint so here we are.

Trevor had been having trouble sleeping. He would just lay in the guest room, staring at the ceiling for hours if he tried to go to bed when everybody else did. So he’d been spending the extra time he would be awake anyway in the lab reading up on everything that had happened.

One night when he was just about ready to turn in, he heard someone else come into the lab.

“Come to bed. It’s late.”

“In a bit.” His mouth moved on its own as he was trying to figure out why this felt off.

“It’ll still be there in the morning.” Boxman rested his hand on top of Trevor’s, stilling it. “Come to bed.”

He shook it off and continued working, taking note of some measurements while they were fresh in his mind. “You go on, I’ll be there soon.”

“You said that last night. You never made it to bed.”

“I made more progress last night, got caught up. I don’t think that’ll happen tonight.”

“Then come to bed.”

Trevor shook his head, not looking at the other man. “Later, Boxy. I have to keep working.”

“It’s been years, PV. You’re overworking yourself. Can’t this wait until morning?”

“Just another hour.”

“It’s three in the morning. Another hour and you won’t get much sleep. Come on.”

Surprised, he looked at his watch. _2:56_ blinked up at him. “Oh.” He sighed and looked over the chemicals he’d been working with. None of them would be a problem if he left them out, all the kids knew not to come in here. Trevor pushed his chair back and stood, yawning. “Sorry, I kept you up, Boxy. Let’s go to bed.”

Trevor woke himself up when his head rolled onto a key the computer didn’t like being pressed, causing it to emit a very loud, drawn out beep. He sat up, trying to work the pain out of his neck, and glanced at the clock.

_3:17_

He was still at the desk in the lab, alone. The only chemicals he could see were put away where Venomous had left them before he disappeared. He’d fallen asleep reading. Clearly his crush on Boxman was getting out of control if he was dreaming of the villain asking him to come to bed.

* * *

The next night he decided to read in bed. Even if he didn’t fall asleep for hours, it’d be more comfortable than the desk chair.

About an hour after everyone else had turned in for the night Fink peeked in around the door.

“Boss?” She hadn’t been able to give up the nickname. She’d just lost someone important to her, he didn’t really have the heart to tell her to stop.

Trevor closed his book and sat it on the nightstand. “What’s up, kid?” She crept into the room and climbed into the bed to sit next to him.

“Where’s Boxbutt?”

“He had to go out of town for the night. He’ll be back tomorrow, don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t worried!” She huffed and crossed her arms. “Just weird that he’s not taking all of your time.”

Oh.

“Fink, you know Boxman isn’t all I care about.” The merger had been rough on the kids, but Fink seemed to be taking it the hardest. At least the bots were used to not being the center of their dad’s attention, but she was – for lack of a better term – an only child. Suddenly there were other kids around, as well as Boxman himself, taking his attention away.

“Sure seems like he is.”

“He’s not.” Trevor wrapped his arms around Fink and pulled her into his lap. “You’re my minion, and you were here first. _Of course_ I care about you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I love you both, just in different ways. Besides, it’s different now. It’s not just the two of us. You have the bots to spend time with, just like I have Boxman.”

“Am I still your favorite?”

“You’re still my favorite minion.”

“I’m your only minion!”

“Then it’d be really bad if you weren’t the favorite, wouldn’t it?”

He woke up at a reasonable hour this time, at least. The sun was barely out, but it was up.

Maybe he should consider getting out of the factory sometime. He was spending way too much time with Boxman’s family – now he was having dreams about Fink? – and it wasn’t like he was going to be here forever. There had to be a way he could leave without being recognized.

* * *

He thought he’d learned all there was to know about what he’d missed. Out of curiosity he looked into the kids who were working for Gar in the plaza. Enid and Rad seemed interesting, but KO was so… young. Too young to be out there fighting some of the villains who had their eyes on the plaza. At least Boxman seemed to understand where to draw the line with KO.

Trevor had been under the impression that he was Gar and Carol’s, but Boxman said they had only gotten together recently. KO was… six to eleven.

Oh.

Oh, cob.

He had a kid. He was a _father_, and he was here at Boxmore – his kid’s nemesis’ company – playing dead! Cob, what kind of person did that? He was a deadbeat dad. After all this time he didn’t deserve to be a dad. He’d rushed headlong into danger and gotten himself killed before his child had been born. When he finally came back it took him _months_ to even consider the possibility he had a kid.

He was so self-centered. He was the worst. He–

“Hey, hey, it’s okay.” Boxman wiped at the tears Trevor hadn’t realized were falling. How long had he been there? “It’s alright. I’m here. Just let it out.”

He wanted to turn away, to not let anyone see him like this, but something about Boxman just– stopped him. Trevor fell forward to wrap himself around the villain, trying to use his shoulder to muffle the loud, hitching sobs he couldn’t stop now.

* * *

He still had the credit card Boxman gave him for his clothes. He never asked for it back, and honestly, it was nice having something that felt like an out. Trevor never intended to use it unless there was some kind of emergency, but then he had the idea for a disguise.

He didn’t realize he was creating a whole new persona until the gear was all picked out and ready to ship. Now he _really_ couldn’t tell Boxman about this. He’d think he was trying to be a hero again! He wasn’t. Really.

Well.

He wasn’t going to just ignore people who needed help. But he wasn’t out to be who he used to be! He just needed to get out of the factory for a bit. He’d keep a low profile.

This would work. Really.

And if he was able to get to know KO a little… Well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **One real quick note about the next chapter!** It's a marginally plot relevant thing, but it is smut. So instead of putting it at the end of this one it gets its own; this is to make it easier to skip for those that wish to. This isn't Unsafe Driving, I know people didn't come for the smut. So I'll put a quick non-explicit summary in the end notes for it so no one is left wondering about the plot relevant details. It _probably_ won't be a thing that happens again, but there are a bunch of middle bits I haven't thought through completely so I'm not making promises. I _will_ promise there'll always be forewarning and I'll try to make it as easy to skip as possible.


	5. Arrogant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **SMUT WARNING! SKIP TO THE END NOTES FOR A NON-EXPLICIT PLOT DETAIL SUMMARY!**

Boxman knew all the spots to hit to have him a panting mess. His accuracy was a little unnerving, but it wasn’t like Trevor had many spare braincells at the moment to think about it. Currently the villain was biting and sucking the edge of his hipbone, digging just-bordering-on-too-sharp talons into the soft flesh of his ass.

“Box!” Trevor gasped, using most of the air he had managed to get into his lungs in the last two minutes. “Boxy, _please!”_

Boxman chuckled and pulled back. “Needy.” He ducked down between Trevor’s knees – _Yes!_ – and bit the soft skin of his inner thigh – _No!_ Trevor’s hips shot off the bed as an even needier sound tore out of his throat. “Stay still.” Boxman pulled his hips back down, holding them in place.

“Stop _teasing_ me, Box!”

“You want me to move this along?”

_“Yes!”_

For such a short man, Boxman had a strength that honestly surprised Trevor the first time he saw it in action. It was thrilling to have it used on him for something as simple as being flipped to his stomach. The thrum of excitement up his spine melded perfectly with the pleasure from Boxman’s tongue pressing into his entrance.

Trevor moaned and tried to push his hips up to meet his lover, only to find he was still being held perfectly still. Box was working him over like someone who’d done it a hundred times. He couldn’t even form a coherent thought, let alone continue to beg.

After what seemed an eternity, Boxman pulled away again and the fog cleared from his head a bit.

“Up,” Boxman smacked Trevor’s hip gently and watched his knees fly under him to prop his ass up at the perfect angle. He pressed a couple fingers into the trembling man to make sure he was stretched enough, teasing him further by dragging against his prostate on the way out. “Such a pretty picture, all for me.”

“Just for you, Boxy…” When Boxman finally took pity on the ex-hero and filled him with something more substantial, Trevor let out a sob of relief. _“Cob, yes! More!”_

“Anything for you, PV,” Boxman set a hard, fast pace, leaving Trevor clutching at the sheets. His claws ripped into them, but that was precisely why they had spare sets in the linen closet. He’d worry about it later. For now, he was more worried about his brain dribbling out his ears.

Trevor could feel himself hurtling towards the end, but he needed _more._ “Come on, Box! Cob– I’m so close!”

“So demanding!” He felt Boxman’s talons tangle in his hair before his head was yanked back to look at a mirror across the room. “Look at you, you arrogant little mess!”

Oh, he was looking. His cheeks were flushed violet, long hair a disaster, sharp teeth savaging his lip. Staring back at him, looking wrecked beyond repair and loving every second, was Venomous.

Trevor jolted awake. _What the hell was that?_ Before he could think much more, however, his erection gave an unhappy throb. He groaned and rolled over to rut into the mattress. After a minute he shoved his sleep pants down his thighs, loving the silky soft sheets against his skin. He tried not to think of the dream, not to imagine Boxman watching him so desperately chasing release after having a sex dream of him and his partner.

_“Such a pretty picture, all for me.”_

Trevor didn’t even know what he shouted when he came. Probably something embarrassing.

This… might be a little out of hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically, Trevor has a happy dream involving Boxman wherein he realizes he's experiencing it from Venomous' perspective. He's a dumb-dumb who doesn't realize all of them have been from PV's perspective, but we love him anyway.


	6. Taking Care

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fro made me feel all sappy and this is what happened.

He kept reminding himself that they were making the best of a bad situation. That Trevor didn’t know and that couldn’t be helped. He needed as much time as they could spare him to be himself. That it was selfish to want to tell him everything. To want his partner back. To want.

It was hard. It was hard to convince his children he was fine when they all knew he wasn’t. It was hard to act like nothing was wrong for Trevor. It was hard to wake up alone. It was hard when Fink had nightmares of her boss leaving, only to wake up and find they were true.

“Boxboss?”

He wished this wasn’t so common. Seeing Fink in the bedroom doorway when PV was here had been more adorable than it was now. “Yes, Fink?”

She hesitated and it was still breaking his heart. “Can I just… stay in here awhile?”

“Of course. As long as you want.”

Usually so quick, she shuffled over and climbed into what they both knew was Venomous’ spot. He knew better than to try comforting her, so he just quietly went back to his reading. After a time, he felt her slump against his side, snoring softly. Boxman looked down at Fink and smiled. She looked almost peaceful.

Her hair was a bit of a mess. She wouldn’t let him near it, normally. It had been a PV thing. Setting aside his book, he reached into his bedside drawer for the brush he’d stashed there for moments like this.

Hair brushing was somewhat hypnotic. Maybe that was just because Boxman didn’t need to spend much time on it himself. Or because he used to watch Venomous do it every night before bed and again in the morning. Whatever the reason, he lost himself in the repetition easily. He almost didn’t notice the eyes peeking around the door, watching him.

“TV?” he asked, smoothing his hand over Fink’s head when she began to stir. Eventually she calmed down again. “What are you doing up?”

“Oh, you know. Couldn’t sleep. I uh, I saw your light on. Thought I’d see what was keeping you up, but… I didn’t mean to intrude.”

“No, no, come in. Sit for a bit. Could use some conscious company.” Boxman pulled the minion closer to him to make room for Trevor. This was selfish, but harmless. He could afford to be selfish in the little ways that didn’t matter. This is what he told himself whenever he did something like this. He had to.

Trevor sat and for a split second everything felt right again.

He gestured to Fink, curled up half in Boxman’s lap. “Does this happen often?”

“_Cob_ no.” Box tried not to jostle Fink as he laughed quietly. “She won’t let me touch her hair if she’s awake. Sometimes Shannon or Raymond can, but it’s a terror to get her to sit still. That’s why it’s such a mess lately.”

“No, I mean the… the cuddling.”

“Oh.” TV wasn’t pulling any punches tonight. “No, not often. She… She just misses him. Guess I’m the next best thing.”

Trevor pulled his eyes away from the sleeping girl to look at Boxman.

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“What?”

This felt a lot like stepping over a line he shouldn’t. He was going to anyway. “She came to you because you know best how she feels. You’re… just as close to her as Venomous was. Every kid’s got a favorite, but you’re still her… boss.” Fink’s terminology was strange to him – considering what he knew of her relationship to Boxman and the professor – but it was her terminology.

She never _said_ anything about her relationship with Boxman. She was a kid, though. Trevor knew she missed her boss more than anything, and she was clinging to what she had left: him, the bots, and Boxman. Maybe she clung to him a little more on the surface, but she still went to Boxman when something shook her more than she could bear to put into words.

Boxman was quiet for a long time, just watching Fink. After a while, Trevor took the brush from him and picked up where he’d left off. “She needs a trim.”

They both laughed when she hissed and swatted at him, still sound asleep.

“Thank you, Trevor."

* * *

_“Gotta take care of your hair if you’re gonna keep it long, kiddo.”_

_“I don’t wanna. It’s boring.” She yelped when he hit a particularly tough snarl. “And it hurts!”_

_“It wouldn’t hurt so much if you would just brush it more often. Or we can schedule an appointment and get it cut shorter.”_

_“No!”_

_ “Then you have to take care of it. Sorry, thems the rules.” She blew a loud raspberry. He was almost impressed. “We could put it up sometimes, if you wanted. Look up some videos on your tablet and try some things out. If you started taking better care of it.”_

_“I guess…”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still have that [twitter](https://twitter.com/ianwritesfic)! It's fast becoming the place to be if you want links to new chapters pretty much the second they go up, or if you just want to see me bitch about writing and work in real time!


End file.
